Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children  

3D Movie Review

Review Written By: Adolph Vega 

3D

Some movies are made for 3D, and this is one of those movies. The cinematography used within this movie went hand in hand with the stereoscopic 3D visuals, and it looked fantastic. I really felt emerged within the movie with several scenes and the use of 3D. One scene specifically wowed me; it was a scene with rain drops and the pausing of time. The water droplets not only popped out -- they also went into the background and created a marvellous three dimensional visual spectacle. Toward the latter half of the movie, the 3D became more subdued, but for the first half I loved how it looked.

Some underwater scenes within this movie used 3D in a weaker fashion, but overall I very much enjoyed the 3D aspect of this movie, and it really enchanted me and enhanced my enjoyment of the movie. I highly recommend the 3D element of this movie .

Final Verdict: Great 3D

Movie

Occasionally a movie comes along that you fall in love with. You recognize that it has problems, but you find yourself totally engrossed into the world and characters within the film. This movie is based on a top selling book series, and this review is from the perspective of someone who is unfamiliar with the books before watching this movie .

This movie is hard to describe, because of its complex and unique nature. The movie takes place in two different time periods. The setting is both in present day (2016) and in the past (1944). The movie has a massive cast of characters that exist in both time periods, and many of the characters can go back and forth between time periods. The movie is focused on a teenager named Jake who's grandfather (in present day) tells him tall tales of a school for peculiar children in England. These peculiar children have special genetic abilities granted to each of them. They are protected from the general public by living in bubbles of loops in time. Miss Peregrine is the headmistress of the time loop that Jake visits, and she watches over a group of peculiar children. Around the world, different headmistresses and different time loop bubbles exist. Not everything is perfect for Miss Peregrine and her group of peculiar children. Barron is the villain of the movie and is a threat to the peculiar people. 

The performances of the cast were a mixed bag, but were overall well presented. Barron was easily the worst character of the movie; he over-acted and had corny lines of dialogue. Miss Peregrine reminded me of a Mary Poppins with a darker tone and was my favorite character of the movie . The peculiar children within this movie were all interesting, and considering how many characters were present within this movie, the peculiar children's time on screen was decent, but I wished that it were more. One of the characters that I disliked the most was Jake's father. Sadly, this character was just a jerk, and you didn't have any reason to like him. In many ways the story felt similar to the X-Men comic book series, but it also seemed fresh and different because of the elements of time travel and underlying tone of the movie. I really enjoyed how the movie showed off the different time periods and made a fantastical premise work on screen.

I found the setting to be confusing, yet fascinating. The concept of people living in bubbles of time loops was intriguing and something I enjoyed, but I found it hard to imagine that people wouldn't get bored with reliving the same day over and over again. Now considering how children can watch the same movie or TV show or read the same book over and over again and never get bored, it's not far fetched to assume that these characters learn to enjoy and take comfort in the inherent redundancy. 

The visual design and special effects of this movie really gave a distinct aesthetic that I adored. I really enjoyed the cinematography and the quick pacing of this movie kept it moving smoothly , but I did feel that some elements of the story were rushed. That said, the several action scenes were really fun to watch and well executed. I enjoyed watching how the peculiar kids used their powers and abilities. The visual design matched the whimsical story, and I enjoyed the special effects and visual gags.

The movie had problems, but I still found myself captivated and having lots of fun, while being thoroughly entertained. The biggest problem that I had with this movie was the simple fact that I wanted more. I wanted more time learning about the kids. I wanted more time with the villain, and I wanted more time understanding the premise and world that this movie created.

With a year filled with sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots, this movie felt like a breath of fresh air, and I was able to forgive many problems that I had with this movie simply because it was so much fun to watch. This is a gem of a movie that totally hooked me, and I can easily recommend it. Every once in a while you watch a movie, and once it ends you want to watch it again because you enjoyed it so much, and feel like you could catch more of it on repeated viewings.

I hope to see this franchise grow on screen with sequels that expand upon the mythology created within this movie. I am a little worried that I might be biased in favor of this movie, because I love stories with time travel, quirky characters and super powered humans, so this movie was literally made for me. Maybe I am more critical toward those themes because I enjoy them so much. Regardless, this movie simply works and is easily in my top five list of Tim Burton directed movies.

Final Verdict: 8/10

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